1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a device for deflecting and distributing liquids and, in particular, to a mechanism suitable for spreading or distributing relatively small amounts of water.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sprinklers of various types and sizes are used in a number of environments. In one common implementation, a sprinkler system is used to water a lawn. The challenge in watering a lawn is, of course, to achieve a relatively even dispersion of water from a point source. Different sprinklers surmount this obstacle using different methods. A very simple example of a sprinkler system is the watering can. A relatively large amount of water is poured through a large area spout having a number of holes therethrough. The water travels through the holes along a number of trajectories and is thereby dispersed.
A number of other sprinkler systems operate via turbine or jet power. The flow from a relatively high volume of water is thereby converted into linear or rotational force. This force is then used to operate some sort of mechanical disperser, which evenly distributes the water. These systems operate fairly well for many applications, especially when watering a significant amount of land, where a large flow of water is necessary and desirable.
Unfortunately, these prior art water dispersion and sprinkler systems require this relatively high water pressure to operate correctly. Therefore, these devices are ill-suited for low-flow applications, such as, for example, precision watering of a single plant, watering on steep inclines prone to water runoff, or watering of highly packed soil that is resistant to absorption.